Quixote, A Legacy of Love and Mischief at Hanaeleh

Quixote’s Obitiuary by Jocelyn Jazwiec, Hanaeleh Vice President

The First Day I Met Quixote

The first day I met Quixote.

September 6, 2014: This was the day I first met Quixote, the Andalusian Thoroughbred cross who would become my best buddy.

I didn’t know much about horses back then. I had liked them since I was a girl, but I didn’t know about the day-to-day physical work you put in. And didn’t know that the divine soul of a horse would reflect your best and worst self back to you.

Born sometime in 1998, Quixote came to Hanaeleh in September of 2013, about one year before our first meeting.

Quixote’s Rescue and Rehabilitation

He was trained as a three-day eventer, which means he was trained in show jumping, eventing and dressage. He was advertised for $15,000. He was purchased for a young girl against the advice of the trainer as he needed an experienced handler, and she quickly became afraid of him. Quixote would play games with her on the ground and under saddle- he would rear straight up, he would lunge out of his stall, he would take off and pull the rope out of her hands and he would push her around on the ground. Under saddle, he learned that if he started to perform “airs above ground,” she would get scared and get off. So he would try to either buck or leap straight up into the air, frightening her, and thus ending a training session.

Quixote and Cricket

They began leaving him in his stall for longer and longer periods and he became dangerous to handle. The family purchased a Quarter horse named Cricket for trail riding, and Quixote quickly became bonded with her- to the point that he was completely unable to be managed if Cricket was not right next to him in the stall.

Eventually the family had to leave Cricket in the stall as well in order to keep Quixote from hurting himself. By the time Hanaeleh was contacted, both horses were underweight and had poor muscle tone from not being worked. Hanaeleh ended up rescuing both Quixote and Cricket; we’re not sure what happened in Cricket’s past, but she was terrified of trailers. You can read about their rescue and one-year celebration here.

One of the first things we needed to do was to get Quixote safe to handle, which meant that we had to separate him from Cricket. That was a huge problem, and while we tried to do it in stages, it finally became apparent that he had to be completely separated from her in order to keep him and others safe. He then turned his complete attention to any of the horses next to him, however, so if we took any of his new neighbors away, we would eventually have the same issue. Finally, we devised a way of arranging the stalls so he would have five horses around him at any given time- even if four of the horses were taken out to be worked or groomed, he would still have a buddy.

Quixote’s ground manners were still quite poor, however, and it was several years before anyone but Elizabeth and a few other people could safely handle him. His favorite thing to do was to spin, to spin and bolt, to bolt and spin, or to rear, then bolt. The rearing was actually the most dangerous behavior, but with patience and perseverance we were able to extinguish that response, and he made great progress over the next year.

Quixote at Hanaeleh

Quixote was a stunning boy. When he was younger, he was a dapple grey, but as he got older, the dapples faded until he became what is called a “flea-bitten gray” although he was mostly white (when he wasn’t rolling in dirt pretending to be Palomino). I fell deeply in love with his dark, worried eyes. Early on, he had a near constant expression of fear as if he didn’t quite believe he was safe, although as he settled into life at Hanaeleh he grew more comfortable and seemed to know that he belonged. His neglect had left him with several stereotypic behaviors such as weaving or cribbing; habits he would have for the rest of his life. Cribbing is a stress behavior where a horse grasps onto a fence or railing with their teeth and sucks air into their stomach. This is why you’ll often see pictures of Quixote wearing a cribbing collar to discourage this, as it can cause horses to colic.

Over the years, Quixote, or Quio for short, settled into life at Hanaeleh. His manners improved, he weaved less, and his sweet playful spirit emerged. He was a ‘Dennis the Menace’, a rogue and a charming troublemaker. He was a favorite with many of our wonderful volunteers. We all had to be watchful while cleaning his stall as he would grab muck buckets by the handle, dump out the contents that were just picked up, and then swing the bucket around. He would do the same with his halter and lead rope – we could not leave this item unattended or Quixote would show you his fantastic trick ropin’ skills (twirling the rope around with his mouth for minutes at a time.)

“Training” Quixote

Quio was also my teacher. He had a stubborn streak and we had many arguments about his lack of movement in the arena, or whether he wanted to pick up his back feet for me. He reflected my frustration back at me and we learned together what worked and what didn’t. (Reader please note: I won the foot argument, but he won about moving in the arena!)

Editor’s Note: No one except for Elizabeth and a few other people “won” the argument about getting Quixote to move around in the arena. He was not afraid that we were going to use the whip on him, and he would either walk calmly or face people off in the arena or round pen when they tried to work him. If people became aggressive, he would threaten them right back, which meant that usually it was only Elizabeth working him. Thankfully Lou Dillon came into our lives and started working Quixote for us! 

Some of my most memorable days were spent grooming Quixote at the tie rail, under the shady tree, giving him a little head massage as he frisked my pockets for cookies.

One of Quixote’s few famous paintings!

He loved peppermints, carrots and attention from humans and he could be exceedingly gentle with children. He really disliked baths and toy rubber chickens that squawked. He even had a short-lived career as a painter in 2015 when Elizabeth thought he might need something more stimulating to do. She repurposed an old lunge whip with a paint brush taped to the end. Elizabeth would load the paint on the brush and hand it to Quixote who would grasp the handle in his teeth, then toss his head around while Elizabeth held the canvas for him.

Quixote was also kindly tolerant of us dressing him up in Halloween costumes and this gave us all great joy. One year I turned Quixote into the horse of my 1980s girl-child dreams with some hair chalk, a unicorn horn and glittery golden hoof decals. He was a Lisa Frank folder come to life and when he ran around in the arena with his rainbow mane flying and his sparkly hooves flashing, all of our hearts exploded. For a couple of years, he donned one of my favorite costumes of all time – Quixote as Gandalf the Gray from Lord of the Rings, complete with beard, hat and pipe.

When I brought family to the ranch, Quio was often the first one I’d introduce them to and we’d linger by his stall as he snuffled children’s hair and looked at us expectantly for treats. We had a few folks interested in adopting Quixote, but he needed someone who was experienced enough to work with him, and we were concerned that people would use force instead of love in dealing with his antics. By this time he had settled in at the ranch and it was obvious that he finally felt comfortable and that he really belonged there.

When we rescued Lou Dillon, little did we know they would be BHFFs – Best Horse Friends Forever, and delight everyone with their antics in the arena as they’d run, jump and play-bite until they got tired and sweaty.

Quixote’s Golden Years

Quixote with his special blanket that Tarah gave him!

The last few years saw Quixote’s age catching up with him. He had an old stifle injury that bothered him sometimes, and he needed monthly injections to keep him comfortable. He colicced a few times through the years, and about four years we were afraid we were going to lose him; indeed, the vet told us she thought he wouldn’t recover, but within 30 minutes of getting some pain meds he was looking like his normal self. He started to colic more often, but between extra buckets of water, supplements and a special mash he would get everyday, we were able to keep him healthy.

A Tragic Set of Circumstances

Quixote was approaching 26 years old (even though he still acted like a 12-year old human boy!) when a trifecta struck. In September of this year, we experienced two weeks of intense heat- everyday it was over 100 degrees. We had misters to help keep the horses cooler, and we rinsed the horses everyday, but it was exhausting just to be outside. Then we had to evacuate from the Airport Fire. We kept him with Lou Dillon because we knew that he was sensitive, and he seemed to be doing OK the first evening. The second day of being evacuated, however, he choked on his hay, and we had the vet out immediately to help him. He was on pain meds, but the entire situation was obviously incredibly stressful.

Disaster activity, heat, trailering, sudden illness and an unfamiliar location can be stressful for horses and Quixote experienced all of these at the same time. Our boy passed away quickly from colic on Sept 11th 2024 with his best friend, Lou Dillon, at his side, along with one of Hanaeleh’s longtime friends nearby.

I’ll leave you with this.

One last thing I didn’t know about horses when I met Quio? I didn’t know the unwritten contract with horses was that they put an indelible stamp on your heart that’s like no other relationship in your life. Rest easy, Quio. We will forever miss your soft nose, mischievous spirit, and your perfectly worried eyes.